Master’s in Safety Engineering

The Safety Engineering Certificate requirements are achievable and relevant to all engineering disciplines. Undergraduate students in any engineering discipline can choose this option as part of their curriculum. Through this option, students are exposed to principles and case histories from a wide variety of engineering disciplines. The curriculum emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of safety, health, and environmental engineering. It also emphasizes the knowledge and skills most likely to be needed by any engineer, as well as those who specialize in safety engineering.

This program, which is administered by the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, seeks to serve all engineering disciplines equally well. The certificate requires 15 hours of coursework. These hours are applicable to the hours necessary for graduation, not an additional load. Nine hours are dedicated to Basic Topics and are required for everyone in the program. An additional six hours address more specific or advanced topics. If the discipline has a specific course in safety (such as does Chemical Engineering), that course counts towards the hours for advanced topics. The advanced topics are cross-listed with numerous departments and developed in cooperation with various TEES research centers and TTI. Finally, a three-hour discipline-specific capstone course that includes a safety component can complete the 15-hour Safety Certificate requirements.

The 9 hours of Basic Topics consist of three required courses that cover basic concepts and principles with case histories illustrating failures and successes in all types of systems, structures, and products. These three courses cover hazard identification and characterization, risk analysis, reduction, mitigation, and response. Specific topics might include:

Hazard Recognition
Management of SHE
Case Histories and Statistics
Emergency Response and Planning
Personnel Safety and Protective Equip
Building Design and Fire Codes
Ergonomics
Static Electricity and Lightning
Human Performance and Behavior
Inherent Safety
Fires and Flammability
Incident Investigation
Explosions
Pressure and Temperature Hazards
Hazard Communication
Control Systems
Operating Procedures
Inspection and Testing
Ionizing and Non Ionizing Radiation
Toxicity, Dose-Response
Electrical Grounding and Safeguards
Fire Protection Engineering
Noise and Vibration
Fire Fighting
Bio Hazards
Transportation Safety
Product Safety
Machines and Tools
Natural Disasters
Legislation
Environmental Protection
Hazard Communication
Mechanical Integrity and Reliability
Maintenance
Consumer Products
Risk Perception and Tolerance
Security and Sabotage
Ventilation
Risk Management
Green Chemistry

The 3 or 6 hours of Advanced Topics consist of courses with more specific focus. Three hours should be a discipline specific course such as Chemical Process Safety. However, it could be one or two of any of the following:

Fire Protection Engineering
Ergonomics and Human Factors
Radiation Safety
Toxicology
Quantitative Risk Analysis
Aviation and Aerospace
Transport Systems
Buildings and Structures
Occupational Health and Safety
System Safety
Acoustics and Noise Control
Industrial Ventilation

Contact:

Dr. M. Sam Mannan, PE, CSP
Professor and Director
Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA
Phone: (979) 862-3985
Fax: (979) 458-1493
E-mail: mannan@tamu.edu
http://process-safety.tamu.edu